Endometriosis is a condition that is often accompanied by painful symptoms and can have profound effects on a woman’s fertility and quality of life. This article aims to raise awareness of this common but often undiagnosed condition and to provide general practice nurses (GPNs) with an overview of endometriosis, its diagnosis and management. After reading this article, GPNs will be better placed to spot the signs and symptoms of the condition, be able to provide women with information about the various treatment options available, and know when to refer women to secondary care.
The role of nursing staff within general practice is rapidly growing to encompass the consideration of both physical and mental health, as well as wellbeing. While this encourages holistic care, staff report feeling pushed to their limits in terms of time and capacity. With this in mind, this article aims to provide guidance on collecting information to address root causes of an individual’s distress and disability in time-limited consultations. It considers how biological, psychological and social issues combine and influence an individual’s physical and mental health. It also offers guidance on identifying barriers to wellbeing using a biopsychosocial approach. Strategies on opening and closing sensitive conversations are discussed, including ideas for possible sources of support for identified issues. Meaningful and achievable goal-setting as part of care planning for long-term health conditions is explored. It is hoped that these suggestions will aid general practice nursing staff in achieving more rewarding care planning consultations.
In December 2018, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published new guidelines on the diagnosis and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in over 16s, which have subsequently been updated in July 2019 (NICE, 2019). Here, Jaqui Walker, advanced nurse practitioner/general practice nurse, Stirling, looks at what the 2019 changes are, how they are influencing practice, and gives handy tips on how to implement the key changes.
Pneumonia is an invasive opportunistic infection which can affect any age group. The very young, the very old and those with chronic disease are most vulnerable and to protect these groups there are two types of pneumonia vaccine which are specific for these groups, although there is some overlap. To make learning more enjoyable, here, Kirsty Armstrong, has developed this wordsearch as part of a teaching programme about vaccines and immunisation. As an advanced nurse practitioner (ANP) in out of hours (OOH) and lecturer in primary and urgent care, finding new ways of making immunisation schedules memorable is always a challenge.
Here, Jane Nicholls, talks about her day-to-day work as a general practice nurse (GPN)
Welcome to this latest issue of GPN. We are delighted to share the latest news in the world of Education for Health, and present opportunities for you to get involved with us as a student or partner. We have dedicated this issue to two key guideline updates and news about our new MSc offering and, as always, we hope that you enjoy this issue of the journal and our news update.
In each issue of the Journal of General Practice Nursing, we investigate a topic currently affecting our readers. Here, we ask what do the new primary care networks mean for GP?
In July, the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) announced an exciting new leadership programme for clinicians in England.
Imagine a network, an online community, made by nurses, for nurses. That is exactly what is on offer with the Digital Nurse Network, which aims to create an inclusive space where nurses, healthcare assistants, midwives and members of the wider nursing team can come together and obtain trusted information on NHS England’s national programmes and digital initiatives. We want the network to be owned and driven by the people that make up its membership, guided by the two clinical nurse advisors — Helen and Ann.
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